Exclusive: Shooting of the new Brit sitcom, based on a hit Tenerife memoir by expats who were hapless, is set to begin in Marbella

A new UK series, billed as a mix between Benidorm and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, will explore cultural clashes and expat misadventures, and the illusions and misconceptions of living abroad.

Called Ketchup, the show will chime with every expat who arrives in Spain with dreams of sunshine and sangria and immersing themselves in the Spanish way of life – only to find things rather different.

Kevin McNally is the star and director of this film, which was also a part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Life on Mars You can also find out more about the following: The Crown This autumn, filming was off to a great start.

READ MORE One in five homes are sold on the Costa del Sol within a few days, as the market is moving at breakneck speed.

Sandra Dickinson is joining McNally as she reprises her role of Trillian from the 1981 BBC series. The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy.

The sitcom is inspired by the life of Joe Cawley who created the name in the 90s while working in a bar on Tenerife.

Original name: More Ketchup Than SalsaHe soon realized that the shorter name was more appropriate.

“I was watching this drunken bunch of Brits trying to dance to Latin music, and I just remember thinking – that’s more ketchup than salsa,” he told Olive Press

READ MORE The ZBE fines are set to begin for Malaga’s low emissions zone – but what about other towns on the Costa del Sol?

Many British expats might identify with this title, finding that their new life in Spain resembles their old one at home more than they expected.

The books tell the story of Cawley’s wife Joy and the challenges they faced when they switched from running a fish stall in Bolton to Canary Islands.

“We didn’t understand the language or culture,” he continued. “We thought, Why not?” “Anything would have been better than smelling like fish all day.”

READ MORE Marbella villas offer ultimate AI security to buyers with money to burn.

He eventually rewrote it as a TV screenplay based on the idea of ‘the expat dream gone wrong’, transplanting the location from Tenerife to Marbella.

“It’s a story that could be set anywhere, but Marbella makes sense – it’s got more money, more visibility,” he explains.

The series is also a deeper look at the issues, challenging the romantic notion of moving abroad as a way to cure unhappiness.

“Taking your problems somewhere else doesn’t make them vanish – they get off the plane with you,” said Cawley. “Paradise, in the end, is a mental state.”

The show will also touch on the thorny issue of integration and the expat bubbles of ‘Brits in the sun’ – topics that are coming into sharper focus in the current political climate of right-wing populism.

READ MORE The rich history of the Marbella megamansion that boasts a swimming-pool with an original Picasso artwork silkscreened into the tiles

“We’ve got a character called Frank, a dour truck driver from Oldham who was pretty much pissed off with everybody – especially foreigners – from his bar stool in Tenerife, saying all the foreigners should go home.

“In comedy, you can raise topics but not push people’s buttons, and perhaps make them think, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a bit like me, isn’t it?’ It’s almost like a mild awakening.”

The project is still in its early stages and was launched at the Marbella International Film Festival The cast and crew began filming the test scenes at the Costa del Sol earlier this month.

READ MORE Electric car owners can recharge their vehicles for FREE in Marbella at these locations – here’s where and how

With local and overseas support, they shot scenes in a yacht at Puerto Banus as well as the Mett Hotel Cancelada.

It is hoped the sitcom – if eventually commissioned – will not sink like Eldorado, which was cancelled after just one series back in 1993.

Also filmed on the Costa del Sol, it is often dubbed the ‘biggest soap opera disaster’ in history, with the BBC scrapping it after just one year.

It cost over €12 million to make with the main set alone costing €2 million in the Guadalhorce Valley.

The Olive Press has more Marbella News. Click here to read it.